Calgary's favourite science-meets-art festival is back. After a pause in 2025 left fans wondering about its future, Beakerhead returns in November 2026 with a new format called Petri Dish — three days of STEAM programming (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) staged at the Telus Spark Science Centre, produced in partnership with the University of Calgary.
Beakerhead first launched in 2013 as a way to take science out of the classroom and into the streets, and Petri Dish carries that spirit indoors with live experiments, stage shows and activities spanning all ages. The programme is split across the weekend: Friday night is for grown-ups, while Saturday and Sunday welcome families.
The festival kicks off Friday, Nov. 6 with Beakernight, an adults-only (18+) evening running 6 p.m. to midnight, complete with live performances, demos and themed drinks. Saturday, Nov. 7 is the busiest day — a full 12 hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. — and it's completely free, with admission at the door on a first-come, first-served basis. Expect hands-on experiments under the 'Live Cultures' banner, a Curious Career Fair with short talks from people who invented their own unusual job titles, Baby Beakerhead activities at the Creative Kids Museum for ages zero to eight, and main-stage performances in the first-floor atrium.
There's also a bonus off-site event: Seven Wonders of Science, held Saturday at the University of Calgary from 12:30 to 5 p.m. Seven researchers will present and take questions on space science, artificial intelligence, paleontology, biomedical engineering and ocean science. Sunday, Nov. 8 winds down from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with more festival programming at Telus Spark.
Tickets are refreshingly affordable. Beakernight is $39 (or $20 for Telus Spark members), Saturday is free, and Sunday costs $10 for adults and $5 for kids aged three to 17. Telus Spark sits at 212 St. George's Dr. NE in northeast Calgary; on-site parking runs $13 per day via the ParkPlus system, or you can ride the Blue Line CTrain to Zoo Station and walk from there.
This is the first Beakerhead weekend Calgary has seen in a couple of years, and Petri Dish is shaping up as a low-cost, genuinely fun way to spend a November weekend — whether you're a local, visiting with kids, or the kind of traveller who plans trips around quirky festivals. The free Saturday makes it easy to test the waters, and pairing it with a visit to the Calgary Zoo (right next to Zoo Station) or a stroll along the nearby Bow River pathway rounds out a solid city break.
